In A World of Memories
by raindropchan
Summary: Tai and Sora meet in Tokyo. I wrote it so that Sora lived in Osaka before moving there and she feels lonely when she doesn't know how to make friends - but Tai comes along and changes that. Explicit Taiora alert!


  
*raindrop_chan*: Hey! This is my first Taiora, even though I support it. Actually, this is just my second Digi fic (not counting my chapters) so pleez read and review!  
  
In A World of Memories  
  
  
She lifted her head and let the tears fall freely down her face, dropping into a puddle on the floor. The mops and buckets clanged noisily around her as she raised her arms to wipe them away, but she didn't care. All that mattered was getting this terrible hurt out of her body, to cleanse her soul from this pain and helplessness. The tears washed away all those months of arrogance and fake pride that threaded her façade together.   
Sora Takenouchi shook her head and sniffed, wiping her nose with a tissue. Her pretense once more in place, she haughtily stepped out of the closet after checking that nobody was in sight and marched regally down the hallway to her next class.  
  
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Taichi Kamiya watched from behind the corner with his best friend Yamato Ishida.   
"Why do you think she was in that closet, huh Matt?" he asked his ignorant and quietly yodeling friend. When he got no reply but another long and extensive yodel, he nudged him - hard. "Shut up!"  
"S-sorry," Matt gasped, massaging his ribs. "I was practicing for -"  
"The yodeling competition, I know. What the heck did you enter it for anyways? All you do is…well, yodel. Anybody can do that."  
"Who says? I bet you can't yodel as well as I can!"  
"Oh yeah?" cried Tai, completely getting off track and forgetting the topic as he stared his best friend in the eyeball heroically. "Well, listen to this!"  
He took a deep breath and suddenly began choking for air when he hit himself on the head in frustration while trying to stop the long yodel that came wailing from his mouth.   
Matt pounded him enthusiastically on the back. "Come on, there! Open that hole o' yours and breathe! In! Out! In! Out! In through the nose, out though the mouth!"  
"Ow! Stoppit! You're going to blow my liver out my mouth!"  
"Your liver's down there, in case you haven't noticed."  
"Don't start lecturing me on the human body again! You know I'm not up to scratch on that es…esophoginny stuff!"  
"Well, at least you're fine now…wait a minute, is that bad or good?…"  
Tai punched his friend good-naturedly in the shoulder and Matt doubled up, wheezing.   
"I think maybe she was hiding there to scare the janitor!" Matt rasped.  
"Or maybe she was an evil monster who ducked in there to drink a potion that would keep her like a human!"  
"Or maybe she needed butt transplants!"  
"That's mean, Matt…"  
Tai's voice trailed off as a menacing shadow fell over them. He cowered in fear as Matt's eyes bugged out in terror.   
"No!"  
"You've got to run, Matt! It's your only chance! QUICK! BEFORE SHE GETS YOU!"  
Matt wailed in dread as he dashed, stumbling, towards the safety of a classroom. But his attacker was getting closer…closer…CLOSER…until at last Matt fell to the ground hopelessly and shut his eyes tightly, waiting for his eminent doom.  
The shadow immediately swooped upon him.  
"Oooooooh, Maaaaaaaaaaatt! Will you take me to the dance? Yes? Hooray! And did you see my new makeup? Isn't it cool? I'm soooo hot, don't you think? Huh? HUH? Oh yes, of course. Oh Matt, I loooooooove you soooo much…*smooch*…"   
Matt's scream of tragedy was lost in the stampede of students rushing to their classes as Tai shook his head sorrowfully at the loss of his friend for the moment. Snared in the grasp of Jun Motimiya…*shudder* (A/N: Sorry all Jun lovers if there are any!!!!).  
  
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Sora watched wistfully as Tai dribbled the soccer ball expertly down the field with his friends in their informal soccer game, evading attackers and shooting a well-aimed goal into the net past the startled goalie.  
Memories…  
A small girl with shocking red hair kicked a ball powerfully across the pitch to her partner, who in turn kicked it back to her. They exchanged passes as they ran across the grass, laughing and whooping…  
She shook her head. That was over. Now that she had moved from her peaceful but fulfilling home in Osaka, Tokyo was totally new to her and she didn't know how to make friends after she had shut herself off - what with the accident and all…  
A tear made its way down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away, but it wasn't quick enough.   
  
Tai glanced over at the lone girl sitting in the bleachers as his teammates pounded him joyfully on the back. He could have sworn he had seen a tear fall from her eyes, but he wasn't really certain. He was sure a strong girl like that never cried. He really didn't have anything against her - it was just that him and Matt had a kind of custom to tease any newcomers at the school because they were uncommon and were usually extreme nerds who spent the whole lunchtime poring over math books and calculators.   
This girl was different, though. She had clear, smooth skin, dazzling green eyes, beautiful red hair, and a rare smile that charmed Tai through to the heart. Well - in other words, she was gorgeous. It was her solitariness that made Tai afraid to approach her to make friends.  
  
It was a minute before Tai realized that his friends were telling him that they needed another player.   
"We're short," explained a boy with glasses and blue hair. "Cody left for swimming practice."  
"Who else is here?"  
"Well, nobody…but that new girl. She's okay, but I doubt if she can play as well as us."  
Tai interrupted the speaker with an annoyed look.   
"Who said girls can't play? My sister is younger than me anyways and she almost kicked my butt in soccer last month."  
They shrugged, knowing that if Tai was the best player on the team, then his sister would have to be really good to almost beat him.  
"Let's ask her, then."  
  
Sora had made up her mind. No more moping, no more crying, and especially no more janitor closets. She had met enough mops already without naming them by texture. She was going to ask that Tai to be friends right now - he seemed really nice and kind of stuck up for her when his friend had poked light fun at her. But wait. Here he was with his soccer friends, heading towards her in the bleachers.   
"Sora?"  
"Um…yeah?"  
Tai loved her voice. It was light and tinkly and sounded like bells.  
"Would you like to play…" he swallowed and continued. "…soccer with us? We're kinda…one player short. You can be on our team."  
"Sure! I love soccer…it's just that I haven't played for a while, so don't expect too much of me."  
Tai's opponents nudged each other and snickered, whispering. "Girls like her won't stand a chance!"  
Sora got ready in her forward position and waited as the ball was dropped and the boys started fighting for it, ducking and weaving. I think I remember how to do this…  
All of a sudden the ball came spiraling down to her and all her skills rushed back. Knee up…ball to the ground…dribble down the field…it was all the same as six years ago.   
Opponents rushed at her, trying to steal the ball. They found that they just couldn't. It was harder than trying to steal honey from a nest of bees. She was quick and agile, darting around the running team members, keeping control of the ball as it whizzed back and forth between her ankles like an angry hornet.  
Tai watched in awe as she passed the ball to him at his position close to the other teams' net. Receiving it cleanly, he moved in for the kill, but the adversaries were closing in. He had no choice but to pass the ball to someone else. But who? Sora seemed good enough in dribbling, but was she an accurate scorer? There was nobody else around to pass to…he acted against his instincts and kicked the ball across to the hovering girl. The other team, caught unexpected, stared open-mouthed as she shot the ball in the net, so smoothly and so precisely that the goalie didn't even feel a thing as it sailed past him into the net.   
"SCORE!" Tai pumped his fist into the air. 3-2, a perfect win for his team! Caught in the exhilaration of victory, he ran over to Sora and squeezed her tightly close to her middle, lifting her up into the air and twirling her around.   
His friends, opponents and team members alike, stared.   
"Uh…Tai…" the boy who had spoken earlier managed. "You…might want to let go of her now."  
"Uh… of course, Shinji!" Tai reddened and placed the blushing Sora down carefully on the ground.   
  
How'd you like it? I'll get the next chapter up soon. Please review!!!!  



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